“God is calling all of us to be saints. I want to pursue sainthood through my vocation to the priesthood.” From The Catholic Review: The many challenges the Catholic Church has faced in recent years with the clergy sexual abuse crisis didn’t deter Samuel Huffer from answering the call to religious life. “It made me want to be a priest even more,” said Huffer, an 18-year-old college seminarian at St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C., who is studying... Read more
That’s the conclusion of this piece from Phyllis Zagano in NCR: The Vatican released the participants’ list for the upcoming Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region the other day. All 185 synod votes belong to men. There is one voting lay person: Ecuadorian Holy Family Br. Miguel Angel González Antolín, one of 15 named by the men’s Union of Superiors General. The 10 women religious nominated by the women’s International Union of Superiors General (UISG) are in the back rows, with 45 other auditors. I... Read more
It’s happening in Canada: A Catholic hospital in Nova Scotia must provide physician-assisted suicide assessments to eligible patients who request them, the province’s public health service has ruled. St. Martha’s Regional Hospital will now perform assessments for patients seeking medical assistance in dying at its hospital, said Tim Guest, vice president of the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA). The hospital was previously exempt because of its faith-based identity. But the Sisters of St. Martha, the order of Catholic nuns who... Read more
“Brebeuf is free to resume our normal sacramental celebrations of the Eucharist.” Details: A Vatican office has temporarily suspended the decision of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to no longer recognize Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School as a Catholic institution over the school’s refusal to fire a teacher in a same-sex marriage. The decision of the archdiocese to cut ties with Brebeuf was announced in June in a decree from Archbishop Charles C. Thompson. The school reached out to the Vatican’s Congregation for... Read more
“The United States of America calls upon the nations of the world to end religious persecution. Stop the crimes against people of faith.” From CNN: President Donald Trump announced new initiatives as part of a global call for protecting religious freedom at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, which his aides have characterized as the centerpiece of his visit to the conference of world leaders. Trump announced that the US would dedicate “$25 million to protect religious freedom, religious... Read more
Some of you may remember this item from several days ago. Now, an update: Police arrested 69-year-old Nasra Alnadrahi at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, on charges of cemetery desecration and criminal mischief connected to incidents at Shrine Church of St. Gerard Majella over the last few weeks. St. Gerard Majella has been visited between midnight and dawn three times since Sept. 10 and experienced roughly $12,000 worth of damages to its prayer garden in the parking lot across from... Read more
Archbishop Wilton Gregory was the celebrant and homilist and, watching video of the event, I saw a few familiar faces in the congregation. The video below contains the entire liturgy — from “Amazing Grace” through “Ave Maria,” “On Eagles’ Wings” and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” The Catholic Standard’s Mark Zimmerman has these details: Noted broadcast journalist and author Cokie Roberts was remembered as a Washington icon, a national treasure, and a woman devoted to her family and her... Read more
It happened Saturday, when Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley ordained the new deacons at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. You can read more about the new deacons here. Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos! Read more
I’m heading north this morning, up the Hudson River by train to the town of Windham, New York, not far from Woodstock, where I’ll be leading a retreat for the deacons of Albany and their wives. I’m packing my camera and my laptop — and also packing prayers and good wishes for an old friend of the Diocese of Brooklyn: a son of Queens, Bishop Ed Scharfenberger, who will be celebrating Mass for us Sunday morning. I’m looking forward... Read more
Details: Calls for a boycott of the company began to spread nationwide earlier this decade after news of the company’s donations to organizations opposed to same-sex marriage. Since then, the chain has more than doubled its annual sales and opened nearly 700 more locations, growing to be one of the most popular fast-food restaurants in the nation. Founded in 1967 in the food court of suburban Atlanta mall by S. Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A began to expand into brick and mortar restaurants in... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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